The Seagull

Synopsis

Written in 1896 this is a comic play of aspiration and failure. Nina aspires to be an actress, Kostya a writer. Madame Arkadina and Trigorin are already these things. Can the young people's dreams come true or will they sour when confronted with the adult world?

Our Review:

28 June 2006

The photograph in the programme of The Seagull shows Juliet Stevenson as Arkadina sitting determinedly at a grand piano next to her son, Ben Whishaw’s bendy-limbed Konstantin, who is lost in thought. A blurred image of Hattie Morahan as Nina gazes out of a window.

Shadows and ghosts, the other life of an afterlife: such is the mood of Katie Mitchell’s hauntingly perverse Chekhov, in a stark new version by Martin Crimp “based on a literal translation and critical commentary by Helen Rappaport”. The preparations for Konstantin’s play include a laborious tuning of the piano. Stagehands dash about everywhere. In the play proper (Chekhov’s, not Konstantin’s), no one dares raise his or her voice in truth or anger for fear of being overheard.

The result is a performance that is entirely submerged in its self-conscious reverie. The characters are more remote than immediate, and it's indicative of how an attitude towards the play has overtaken an en...

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Latest User Review

87.74.34.117) - 11 September 2006:

This play had me enthralled and often of the edge of my seat. Chekov has a reputation of being heavy-going and difficult to watch, however in this version I truly felt I could identify with many of the (beautifully flawed) characters. The story was told with a strong sense of reality, this added sense of voyuerism, heightened the sordidness of twisted little relationships - like watching your neighbours fight from behind the curtains. I have never seen this play performed before so I can't know how it is 'supposed' to go; but I can say that this play was wonderful piece of theatre in its own right and should be judged on its own merit. ...

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